1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for suspending a sausage from hooks.
2. Description of the Related Art
An appropriate number of loops of sausage to be suspended from a stick which is used for heat treatment is determined by taking into consideration the productivity of heat treatment of sausage and the quality of sausage (smoke unevenness) in a smokehouse. A loop group of this predetermined number of loops is formed as the sausage which is made by stuffing a casing with a meat emulsion by a sausage stuffing machine F and formed into a chain of links is sequentially suspended in loop form from a multiplicity of hooks of a conveyor.
In the case of artificial casings whose overall length is fixed, a sausage obtained from one such casing is automatically formed into a predetermined number of loops and is suspended from the conveyor. Natural intestine casings, however, are indefinite in length and diameter, and therefore it is impossible to continuously make loop groups each having a fixed predetermined number of loops from each natural intestine casing.
Normally, two operators separately take charge of the operation of supplying natural intestine casings to a sausage stuffing machine, the operation of finishing the loops into a predetermined number of loops by combining sausage loops made from one or a plurality of (usually, one to three) natural intestine casings, and the operation of transferring the loop groups onto a stick.
In addition, as another method, an attempt is made to eliminate the manual operation of transferring sausage loops onto a stick by connecting to a stuffing machine a conveyor having a device for automatically transferring loop groups suspended from hooks onto a stick, so that a single operator of the stuffing machine takes charge of the operation ranging from the operation of supplying natural intestine casings to the sausage stuffing machine to the operation of finishing the loops suspended from hooks into loop groups of a predetermined number of loops.
A method and apparatus for manufacturing sausages by suspending loop groups of a predetermined number of loops from hooks are disclosed in JP-A-2000-139331 (Patent Document 1), WO 02/05653 A2 (Patent Document 2), and JP-A-2011-50276 (Patent Document 3).
In Patent Document 1, an apparatus is disclosed in which a sausage having the number of loops and the number of links which are adjusted in respectively fixed ranges is suspended from a suspension frame (22) for sausage heat treatment, and the number of links constituting each of the leading and trailing loops of a chain of sausage S is made smaller than the number of links constituting a respective one of other loops, to prevent the unwinding of the leading and trailing links.
In the known apparatus disclosed in this Patent Document 1, when the number of links to be suspended per suspension frame (22) has been reached approximately in the middle, other than both end portions, of the chain of sausage L which is being transferred by a hook conveyor (13), a connecting portion (SL) to be cut of the chain of sausage (S) is cut by a cutting device (31).
Patent Document 2 discloses a method and an apparatus in which one loop (39) consisting of a predetermined number of sausage (36)(eight in the embodiment) is sequentially hung by two adjacent hooks (10), and when the loops each consisting of the predetermined number of sausages (36) are hung on a predetermined number of hooks (10), the supply of the loop (39) consisting of the predetermined number of sausages (36) is interrupted, wherein, alternatively, a marker loop (39B and 39C in FIG. 8) (39A in FIG. 8A) whose shape underwent a change in shape in relation to the shape of the loop (39) consisting of the predetermined number of sausages (36) is supplied to the hook (10). In this known apparatus, the marker loop (39B and 39C in FIG. 8) (39A in FIG. 8A) is formed on the hook (10) while a sausage strand (34) is being discharged from a sausage linker assembly (74) toward a conveyor (58).
In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8 of the above-described Patent Document 2, the sausage strand (34) discharged from a discharge horn (62) is formed into a vertically short loop (39B) by moving the conveyor (58) at a higher speed.
In the apparatus shown in FIG. 8A of the above-described Patent Document 2, the marker loop (39A) having a V-shape and consisting of the same number of sausages (eight in the embodiment) as the predetermined number of sausages (36) is hung on a hook (10) adjacent via a space (92) to the hook (10) supporting an endmost loop of a sausage loop group (94).
In addition, Patent Document 3 discloses a method and an apparatus in which one operator performs the supply of casings to a stuffing machine and processing of sausage loops, and loops groups formed on a suspension member set consisting of a predetermined number of suspension members are automatically transferred onto a stick.
In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3, a first suspension member (18F) of a suspension member set (19) of an upper conveyor (11) at a standstill at a removing place ST2 is opposed, at a long distance approximately corresponding to a set mounting region (17B), to a last suspension member (24E) of a suspension member set (25) of a lower conveyor (12) which is moving over a suspension member starting position (OP1) in a long (see Patent Document 3, FIG. 7-2(E)).
However, with the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, since an operator M is unable to visually confirm the portion of the loop to be cut, a thermally-fusing-portion indicating device (32) which is provided separately from the hook conveyor (13) is required, so that the apparatus correspondingly becomes complex.
In addition, with the apparatus of this Patent Document 1, although control of the number of links at both terminal loops is provided, control of the number of links of an intermediate loop other than both terminal loops is not provided. Since the loop which is cut by the thermally-fusing-portion indicating device (32) is an intermediate loop other than both terminal loops, the number of links of new terminal loops produced by the cutting of the loop is constantly fixed without being controlled. Hence, the manner of tying the new terminal loop is limited.
With the apparatus of FIG. 8 disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the conveyor is moved at a faster speed to form a short marker loop (39B) which is vertically short, the operator−s manual processing operation is difficult to catch up with the movement of the loop ends, and it is difficult to processing the end of sausages suspended from the hook.
Since the space (92) of the apparatus of FIG. 8A disclosed in Patent Document 2 is formed by using only one hook (10), the interval between the endmost loop and a loop adjacent thereto is narrow. For this reason, the operation of processing both ends produced by cutting the maker loop (39A) is difficult. Furthermore, care needs to be taken so as not to cause a stick (47) to be inserted in the adjacent loop, so that the operation of transferring the sausage loop group (94) onto a stick is time-consuming.
The apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a complex structure having the upper conveyor (11) and the lower conveyor (12). Further, with this known apparatus, since the distance from the first suspension member (18F) to the last suspension member (24E) is long, it is necessary for the first suspension member (18F) to move toward the suspension member starting position (OP1) at a speed higher than the moving speed of the conveyor persisting at the time of loop formation. For this reason, with the apparatus of Patent Document 3, the durability of endlessly circulating bodies (17, 23) to which the suspension member sets (19, 25) are fixed declines correspondingly, and a device for avoiding the collision of the first suspension member (18F, 24F) against the last suspension member (24E, 18E) is required, so that the apparatus becomes complex correspondingly.